J.C. Chandor

Filmmaker

Born: 1974

Birthplace: New York

Best known as:

The director of All Is Lost

J.C. Chandor is the filmmaker who wrote and directed Margin Call and All Is Lost. His dad was a Wall Street banker, and J.C. grew up in northern New Jersey. He studied film at Ohio's College of Wooster and graduated in 1996, then moved to New York, where he took whatever jobs came along, directing documentaries, commercials and short films. His feature film script for Margin Call drew the attention of actor Zachary Quinto's production company, and the finalized film debuted in 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival. The film's A-list cast and timely subject matter (a bunch of Wall Street bankers just before the 2008 crash) earned a lot of notice, if not a lot of moviegoers. But Chandor's Sundance experience led him to get Robert Redford to star in 2013's All Is Lost, a film that received raves from critics for both the director and the actor.